


Off The Ice

by genefen



Category: Figure Skating RPF, I - Fandom
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-01 12:08:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13998015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/genefen/pseuds/genefen
Summary: “I know what you mean Scott,” she said, cutting him off. She squeezed his hands and smiled. It wasn’t just any smile, it was something that said she knows, that she understands, that she loves him and is happy for him. And even when her heart felt like it was breaking into tiny little pieces falling on the floor, she really did understand. She always did. Loving Scott meant she always had to.





	1. The Beginning of an End

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fanfic. I wanted to write something angsty but from Tessa's POV. Like you, these two have taken over my life since the last Olympics. I don't know where this is taking me, but I hope you enjoy the ride!
> 
> I understand that the characters are real people, this is just a work of fiction from a crazed daydreaming fanatic. Come fight me on [tumblr](http://www.letters-to-the-sea.tumblr.com).

Everything stopped when the music ended. That’s it. Twenty years of her life led to the past four minutes and now it’s over. She could feel Scott’s heart beating wildly in his chest. She took a deep breath and landed herself back to reality.  
The stadium erupted with the crowd’s roar and Scott was hugging her, his face burrowed in her neck, his hand cradling the back of her head and she knew. They did it. Beyond all doubt, they have achieved their life’s work. Gold or not, this was their moment. Together.  
They let each other go long enough to look at each other’s eyes. Scott was screaming and she couldn’t contain the bubble of triumphant laughter that exploded out of her and the next thing she knew they were back in each other’s arms again. She clung to him and tried to savor this, trapped inside this little bubble of theirs – his fingers grasping the skin on her back, his hair fanning her cheek.  
‘I love you,’ she thought.

\-----------------------------

“I think she’s the one, T.” Scott was standing on her front door. It was half past 11 in the evening. She had just been enjoying an episode of _Jeopardy_ , one she was watching alone. It was supposedly a weekly ritual she shared with Scott which he blew off that night because of a date. A date he so obviously just came back from.

  
“She is funny, smart, sporty, she even shoots and plays golf,” he gushed, shrugging off his jacket and haphazardly throwing it on the nearest chair. She absentmindedly picked it up and hung it on the coat stand by the door.

  
“I don’t know. It just feels different this time,” he continued his monologue while making his way to her kitchen. Of course, he said that before about other girls. Scott the romantic, the optimist. He was always convinced he found the one. But she couldn’t help to feel the dread clogging up her throat all the way to the bottom of her stomach. When he said it, it sounded different.

  
He went behind the counter and leaned a hand against it, facing her as she sat quietly on a bar stool wearing what she hoped was a happy, inquisitive look.

  
“I was sitting there in front of this gorgeous woman who was making me laugh, and it suddenly dawned on me that I could finally do this.”

  
_I make you laugh, Scotty_. But she didn’t say it out loud. She rarely had the courage to say these things out loud.

  
He was looking so intently at her and she couldn’t help but finally notice the difference in him, one she now thinks she has been unconsciously ignoring all these months after Pyeongchang. His eyes were softer, his mouth relaxed in a careless smile. His shoulders no longer held that tightness of a man who was constantly in competition, trying to win something. He was, she breathlessly realized, finally at home with himself.

  
“I feel like finally, now that we’re not competing, I can throw myself at this wholeheartedly. Maybe I can finally have a healthy relationship, now that I no longer have that baggage.” He stopped and looked at her, realizing what he just said.

  
“Not that what we had was baggage, Tessa. I don’t mean that. I don’t regret the last 20 years of my life with you.” He came around the counter and sat at the next stool. He grasped both of her hands and looked imploringly at her.

  
“What I mean is, now things are less complicated. We have more time and were traveling le—”

  
“I know what you mean Scott,” she said, cutting him off. She squeezed his hands and smiled. It wasn’t just any smile, it was something that said she knows, that she understands, that she loves him and is happy for him. And even when her heart felt like it was breaking into tiny little pieces falling on the floor, she really did understand. She always did. Loving Scott meant she always had to.

  
The small smile he returned her almost made it worth it. Almost. She noticed the laugh lines on his face, a glaring reminder that they’re older. A reminder that all the more, he deserves this now.  
He tilted his head to the direction of the living room, now only noticing the audio from the television she didn’t have the chance to turn off when she rushed to open the door. Standing up, he linked his right hand to hers and tugged her into that direction.

  
“C’mon. There’s still a couple of minutes left.”

  
It wasn’t until they were seated at the sofa, with her feet tucked under her and her head on Scott’s shoulder that she closed her eyes and wished a small prayer to the universe. Maybe this didn’t mean she will have to lose moments like this. Maybe the clock won’t stop ticking for them for a while longer. Maybe he wouldn’t have to stop being her partner in crime. She snuggled closer to him, knowing deep inside there won’t be many more _Jeopardy_ nights like this, knowing she’ll eventually start losing _her_ Scott.


	2. Old Habits and A Stranger in the Mix

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your kind comments! I will be trying to upload longer chapters from now on. Let me know what you think!

  
Tessa closed the lid of the last plastic container of chicken soup she was packing for Scott. When he texted this morning that he couldn't do dinner due to a nasty flu, she went to the store to buy some ingredients. She only knew how to make two things - poached eggs and chicken soup. Yes, cooking was definitely not her department. Having nutritionists all those years as an athlete meant she didn't have to learn how to feed herself. Now that she's retired though, perhaps she should start learning how to cook. She couldn't survive off of deliveries and chocolates forever.

 

She grabbed the bags and made her way to the living room, picked up a DVD copy of 48 hours and then she was out of the door. While driving to Scott's house, she thought about the past weeks following their conversation in her kitchen. Nothing much has changed. She knew Scott was still dating _the girl_. It's odd how she doesn't even know her name. Perhaps odder still is the fact that they don't talk about her all that much when they're together. Whenever she asks how things were going, he would say something like, "it's great" and then change the topic. This was nothing new, though. Scott has always kept his dating life separate from her. It didn't bother her as it should, she supposed. In a way, not talking about it made her deal less about the thought of Scott with someone else.

 

She set her car to park in front of his house and noticed a red Mini Cooper sitting on the other side of the road. Smiling at the thought of seeing Alma, she jogged her way to the front door, shopping bags in hand. She rang the doorbell with a ready smile.

 

But instead of Scott's dark-haired petite mother, she was greeted by a barefoot blonde girl clad in an over-sized Leafs jersey. With her hair tied up in a messy bun, startling blue eyes and pink full lips flashed in a wide smile, Tessa couldn't deny this girl was a beauty.

 

They stared at each other for a full 5 seconds before she managed to mutter a high-inflected hello. In hindsight, she realized how tactless it was for her to drop by unannounced. Of course, chances were high _she_ would be here. Scott was sick, after all.

 

"You're Tessa, hi! I'm Elena." Even her voice was sweet.

 

"Yes. Uhm, I was just dropping by. I'm sorry. I didn't think-" she muttered under her breath. She felt a little ridiculous now.

 

"Oh no. No! Of course, you would drop by. Scott's been a baby since I got here," she said, stepping a little to the side to motion her in.

 

She took a tentative step inside and faced the girl, for the first time feeling out of place in a house she actually had a key in. Thank goodness she at least didn't just decide to barge in, thinking Alma was there.

 

"He's always a baby whenever he's sick." She offered, for a lack of a better thing to say.

 

It was awkward, to say the least, standing there. Elena wasn't exactly like anything she expected. It was a running joke with everyone how Scott dated girls that looked a lot like Tessa. In fact, she herself found a little satisfaction in that, giving her more than a little sliver of hope all of these years. But looking at Elena now, they couldn't be anywhere near alike.

 

She was a little shorter than Tessa, curvier compared to her more athletic frame. She wasn't traditionally beautiful exactly, with her eyes set just a little far apart and her cheekbones on the softer side. But she was pretty, with lips set in a way that looked like she was constantly wearing a small smile and big blue eyes covered by long, thick lashes any girl would die for.

 

Tessa couldn't help but see what Scott probably does. A warm, cheerful girl he could come home to and feel at ease with. It's hard to resent her for that.

 

Her internal observation was cut short by Scott's hoarse call from his bedroom.

 

"Tessa?" He called out. He probably heard her voice when she came in.

 

"I should check in on him," she said, smiling apologetically at the other girl.

 

Dropping all but one bag on the kitchen counter on her way to the bedroom, she felt Elena following closely after her. She found Scott's head peeking out from underneath a pile of blankets with all the curtains drawn close.

 

"I tried making him take his meds but he wouldn't budge. In fact, he didn't say a word all morning until he called for you just now." Elena said from behind her.

 

Tessa walked into the room and parted the curtains just wide enough to let a little light in. She went and sat down on the bed and took a thermos from the bag she was carrying. Opening it, she let the smell of chamomile tea waft into the room and smiled when Scott started to stir.

 

Fingers peeked out to clutch the edge of the blanket and a pair of weary brown eyes followed. Without a beat, Scott started to sit up against his headboard and silently accepted her gift. She rummaged through the bag and took out some medicine, handing it to him. While he was taking his meds, she went to his sock drawer and pulled out a pair. When she sat back on the bed, she flipped through the covers and found his bare feet, wordlessly putting his socks on for him. Scott handed her the thermos and slid back to lay down, retreating to his cocoon but not before grabbing her hand close to his chest, under the covers.

 

She looked up at Elena, seeing her expression - both parts curiosity and bemusement but also a little hesitant and out of place. She found a little satisfaction in the latter. Damn her and her pettiness. But she couldn't help but find comfort and show a little display of power that still knows Scott best.

 

"Baby," Tessa said softly towards her, referring to Scott's behavior and trying to appease her guilt at Elena's expense.

 

Elena smiled and there was an air of camaraderie in it.

 

"At least now I know how to deal with him," she said laughingly. "For the future."

 

Tessa looked down at Scott's head of hair, felt his hand clutching hers tightly underneath the covers, hidden from Elena's view. She thought of what was going to be an unwatched copy of 48 hours she had planned on watching with Scott in an hour when he finally felt a little better. She smiled sadly and felt a little painful tug at her heart. Maybe she could afford to resent Elena a little bit, after all. 


End file.
